Jodi Arias Trial News Update 2015: Defense Witness Says Travis Alexander Was Very Sexual, Manipulative in Death Penalty Retrial
Day 26 of the Jodi Arias sentencing retrial continued on Tuesday as the defense team hammered down on their argument that Arias killed her lover Travis Alexander because he was an emotionally abusive and manipulative boyfriend.
While on the witness stand, defense expert and psychologist Dr. Robert Geffner delivered a graphic testimony that painted the murder victim as a sexually-driven womanizer. He focused on the sext messages that he sent to multiple women while seeing Arias.
"We are learning that Travis Alexander was a bit of a player," courtroom blogger Jen Wood said, reports KPHO. "He liked to sext many women at the same time he was still seeing Jodi Arias."
According to analyst Beth Karas, Geffner's testimony supports the defense's "position that Travis Alexander treated women a certain way, presented himself to the Mormon community one way, but he was a highly sexual person, a little bit manipulative and controlling of women."
Karas added that the new revelations about Alexander's interactions with other women "may help the jury understand where Jodi Arias was coming from. It's not a defense to the murder; she's guilty of the murder, but it might convince some of them she doesn't deserve to die" for the murder.
Geffner also said that Alexander lied to women about being a 30-year-old virgin in order to coax them into sleeping with him. He also presented a text message that Alexander sent to another woman about Arias in 2007 as evidence.
"It is a lose-lose situation. If I avoid her I deal with lots of tears. So I deal with it. Don't get me wrong. She is an amazing girl. A better person than me but we are not right for each other. I don't think she has that entirely figured out. It's a tough spot to be in," read the message, according to ABC 15.
Earlier in the trial, defense witness Dr. Miccio Fonseca, a clinical psychologist who specializes in twisted sexual behavior, stated that Alexander had a mastery of deception and a "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" personality.
Although Arias was found guilty of first-degree murder last May in the death of her ex-boyfriend, jurors in her first trial failed to reach a unanimous decision on her sentencing. As a result, the retrial will determine whether she should be sentenced to death, life in prison or life with a chance of release after serving 25 years.
According to medical examiners, Arias stabbed Alexander 27 times, primarily in the back, torso and heart in his Phoenix home. She also slit Alexander's throat from ear to ear, nearly decapitating him, and shot him in the face before she dragged his bloodied corpse to the shower and took pictures of him.
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